Vein
by MiyuWrites
Summary: Momentarily driven by curiosity, Natsu placed a finger on the veins in stark relief on the back of Gray's hand. He retracted his hand as soon as there was skin-on-skin contact.


**Vein**

Despite his strong affinity with ice and being an exhibitionist, Gray wasn't all that transparent.

Natsu knew that.

He'd known Gray for a long time – heck, almost his entire lifetime, if Natsu were to be honest – and it never ceased to amaze Natsu how the ice mage could still surprise him.

Sure, they were rivals and best friends.

But Gray had his beyond private side.

It was locked under several layers of the thickest ice possible. Which seemed impossible to thaw.

However… Natsu enjoyed a challenge.

Gray was an asshole but at the same time, there was a softness.

Was it possible for jaded ice to be soft?

Natsu scoffed at his silly train of thought, making Happy look at him inquiringly. Natsu shook his head in answer and Happy went back to his fish.

Gray was a puzzle and Natsu wasn't above trying to solve it in the quiet moments. Sure, it was much more fun to be punching Gray in the nose, or kicking him – the usual fun stuff between them – than it was to talk to him. That and Gray was a private asshole of a person. Though the asshole part might be especially for the fire mage.

It didn't help that Erza had broken their last few fights. And wasn't that scary!

Erza could be terrifying.

His guild mates found their antics funny. It wasn't all that funny when Erza wanted your hide. Everyone knew to stay in the red head's good side.

But, returning to the matter of his thoughts…

Gray. Ice mage. Exhibitionist.

He had the habit of smoking now and that confused Natsu a little. He was always grumbling about the smoke and fire, after all. Or was he just complaining about Natsu? That momentary thought was quite discomforting. Natsu didn't like it.

Well. Life went on. Natsu had to go on missions!

The calm moments were just that, the odd moment.

* * *

Natsu wasn't all that happy for having learned more about Gray's past. Not the way he had.

Not _how_ it had been.

Too much hurt and sacrifice, too much darkness and just a sliver of light. And Gray would do the ultimate sacrifice for his friends. That wasn't comforting even though Natsu understood it. He would do his damnedest to protect his friends and what he thought was right, even if it nearly killed him, Natsu would claw his way back into living. He had a mission. He had to find Igneel.

 _Protect the people. Protect your friends. Find Igneel._

Those were the directives of his life.

Nothing more, nothing less.

But this whole Deliora matter…

Gray's wounds had been torn open once again and rubbed raw until bleeding profusely.

The blood had fallen. A vein being torn open and spilling. Spilling.

Natsu couldn't help himself. He just had to stop the bleeding.

He'd stepped up.

A moment of complete clarity between them happened. It was so strange how in tune they seemed to be, the understanding between them making them experience a strange proximity.

It was sobering. It was exciting.

And, most of all, it was confusing.

As they were returning home, Natsu mused about that. And wondered if that sudden streak he'd noticed in Gray would repeat itself. He had the gnawing feeling that it would. And then he didn't think of anything else because he was motion sick and just wanted to throw up.

* * *

A long time had passed since the whole event with Deliora. The feeling Natsu had wasn't wrong but… Natsu couldn't say much of anything himself because he also tended to jump into situations without much regards towards his own self. He would get in the way of harm to protect his friends.

Unfortunately it seemed that, even with things mellowed out between them, the competitive streak was still pretty alive. And they could hear Lucy in the background complaining about them wanting to see who wanted to die first.

It wasn't like _that_.

Even if from the outside it could look like that.

But it wasn't.

Though Natsu would beat himself about that. He had a barely conscious Gray in his arms and they were hiding at the moment. Natsu didn't know what had happened but Gray had exploded from within the wall to his left. Noise bounced on the stone walls and floor, troupes being rallied and ready to strike. Gray didn't react. Natsu felt a spike of cold slither down his spine. It didn't look good.

Hauling the mostly unconscious body, earning a few pained moans, Natsu got them out of the room before the dust settled. He made a herculean effort to not succumb for a fit of sneezes that would make them lose precious time, as well as blow their cover.

A small, lit cubicle was their hiding place for the moment. It didn't seem like much of a cover but, they had to hang in there.

Natsu helped Gray into a sitting position. He should be laying down but there was no room for that. Natsu knelt beside him, trying to understand what was wrong.

Nothing seemed to be amiss. Gray had some scrapes and bruises but nothing that seemed too bad. However, something was happening. There was an acrid scent coming from the ice mage. And, upon a closer inspection, it looked like a strange glow seemed to be coming from Gray.

It was as if his skin was getting translucent.

Natsu became strangely mesmerized by the sight of the blue lines that created paths that until then had been unseen.

Natsu cursed under his breath.

He knew that the situation was out of his control. Because he had no clue about what the fuck was happening.

Momentarily driven by curiosity, Natsu placed a finger on the veins in stark relief on the back of Gray's hand. He retracted his hand as soon as there was skin-on-skin contact.

It was as if he'd been shocked.

And that was not a thing that happened.

Natsu tried again. He placed his hand over the back of Gray's hand, bracing himself for it, and feeling the strange impression as soon as his palm made contact.

At first it felt like a shock, like electricity spiking up his arm. Natsu endured it but that was when things changed. His magic. It was being drained.

A spike of something he didn't want to admit to himself that was fear ran through him.

This…

Gray had been hit with something _bad_.

And there wasn't anything Natsu could do!

Ice started to cover the Salamander's hand and Natsu was having a lot of trouble to conjure his fire magic. Natsu made a tremendous effort but managed to free his hand with the free one.

He leaned against the wall opposite to Gray and looked at him.

Gray hadn't changed. Was still unconscious and immobile. However, there was a pallor and out of place blue tint appearing on his fingers and lips. Gray was freezing in an unnatural way – after all, an ice mage could endure a lot of cold. How was this happening to Gray?

Natsu knew that he had to counteract the cold with warmth but his magic was like siphoned out when in contact with Gray. It was as if Gray were venomous and by touching him you put your life at risk.

Natsu was definitely not equipped to handling the situation.

Still.

He had to help Gray somehow.

A muttered curse had him kneeling beside Gray and placing his hand on his shoulder. Natsu willed that warmth passed but at a controlled trickle. If he blasted fire the result would be something bad. So Natsu had to help with the warmth but in different points, not for an extended amount of time. And despite that, the magic working within Gray was faster and more powerful, robbing more than Natsu was willing to give. The loss of his magic was taking a toll on Natsu, as well as the focus he had to maintain so as to not harm either of them.

Droplets of sweat fell down his forehead, down his back.

Fortunately Gray seemed to be regaining some colour, the pallor receding slightly.

Noise came from outside. Maybe the cubicle they were in hadn't been overlooked after all.

Natsu stood, holding onto the wall as his head was spinning. His eyes were beginning to become unfocused.

Voices.

The door began to open, slowly.

Natsu ground his teeth. He was going to keep them safe until help arrived.

He _had_ to.


End file.
